Games organisers threaten expulsion over syringes

COMMONWEALTH GAMES: Organisers are promising any athlete found doping at the Gold Coast Games will be thrown out of the event.

The commitment came after the Commonwealth Games Federation revealed syringes had been found by a cleaner in the athletes’ village on the Gold Coast.

CGF chief executive David Grevemberg refused to reveal which nation was involved but reports linked the find to India’s team.

Grevemberg also refused to confirm where or when the needles were located, but said an investigation was under way. A preliminary report was to be delivered late yesterday.

With just two days until the Games’ opening ceremony, he promised the investigation would be undertaken with haste and if there was any wrongdoing, those responsible would face severe penalties.

“We’re going to work as expediently as possible, within the rights of our standard,” Grevemberg said.

“We don’t want athletes that are cheating on the field of play, or in the Games, and let’s just make that very clear.

“We have absolute zero tolerance for doping and that means no tolerance.”

Indian manager Ajay Narang denied any team links to the syringes, saying they were found in a water bottle on an outside path.

“One of my guys reported that to us. I had a look and could see these were syringes,” Narang said.

“As a good citizen, I immediately went to the medical commission office for analysis and disposal. We didn’t open the bottle at all.”

Part of the CGF’s antidoping policy is a “no-needles” rule for athletes at the village.

The only exemptions to that are approved medical practitioners or those needing “autoinjection” therapies for conditions such as diabetes.

The revelation comes a week after the CGF announced a strict doping protocol for the Games including the introduction of sample storage for later testing for the first time at a Commonwealth Games.